Wholesale Market, Brook Street, Huddersfield

The following source list was originally available only on paper in one of the West Yorkshire Archive Service offices. It may have been compiled many years ago and could be out of date. It was designed to act as a signpost to records of interest on a particular historical subject, but may relate only to one West Yorkshire district, or be an incomplete list of sources available.

Wholesale Market, Brook Street, Huddersfield

The market rights were owned by the Ramsden family, who had been granted charters by Elizabeth I in September 1599 and by Charles II in 1672. The rights were then sold in 1874 to Huddersfield Corporation for the sum of £14,453, who acquired the power to operate markets under the Huddersfield Waterworks and Improvement Act, 1876. Work on the Market Hall began in 1878, in King Street, and was completed at a cost of £31,325, then in 1887 the building of the Wholesale Market began.

The architect of the Wholesale Market was R.S. Dugdale, who was also the Borough Surveyor. He was asked by the Markets Committee in January 1887 to study designs of wholesale markets in other towns. After visiting markets in Manchester, Sheffield and Preston, it was decided that a "simple inexpensive roof upon pillars, conveniently arranged and so designed as to afford, as far as possible, protection for the people from the weather; the exterior to be a little removed from absolute plainess" would be the more suitable structure. Sketches were submitted and work begun.

It was originally planned for land on Zetland Street, but Dugdale was persuaded to use the Brook Street site as it offered more space. It was also conveniently situated for the railway station.

The structure consists of cast-iron components, made by the Whessoe Foundry Company of Darlington, and glazed curtain walls and north lights in the roof. The exterior is decorated with a frieze which includes heraldic motifs above the columns. Iron had not been used in buildings to any great extent until the late 18th century, when it provided a structural framework capable of achieving great spans. Ben Graham & Sons, Builders, were responsible for the overall construction work. Ben Graham was the son of Abraham Graham, stone mason, who ran the business from Folly Hall. The Graham family were already well established in the town for their building work, and employed some 200 hands. They also ran a quarry at Crosland Moor.

The Wholesale Market area originally consisted of some 2,357 square yards, divided into six aisles, and included banana-ripening rooms and a refreshment area. Apart from the roof, which is supported by ten pillars, it was unprotected, to allow easy access for carts to deliver and collect a variety of fish, fruit and vegetables, from the three open sides which took in Brook Street, Lord Street and Byram Street. A further 1,262 square yards of additional land was made available for the Wholesale Market in 1909 to spread onto an adjoining, uncovered space. Roller Shutters were added to provide protection, so that fruit might be given shelter without the need for a tarpaulin cover. In 1979 the building ceased to house the Wholesale Market, although the facade has been renovated, and now houses some 300 retail market stalls, some of which operate on four days per week.

NB. More information regarding the running of, and financial income of the markets throughout Huddersfield, including the Wholesale Market, General Indoor market and Cattle Market, together with fairs, is given in the report "Royal Commission on Market Rights and Tolls, 1889", available at Huddersfield Local History Library.